Soldier On || Part 2 ||-•-Yamato-🍃-Kakashi-• ||

Chapter 4: 2 Days to the Wedding: Morning After

Swerving his thoughts away from Kakashi wasn't easy either. His senpai was that one person he would always admire for as long as he lived, for reasons that now had no benefit to the way Yamato felt. Stern, cunning, skilled, responsible–for most part–and cared for others more than he did for himself. But now, there were all these little things Kakashi did and said,... or didn't say and do. If he stood there absolutely still, Yamato could still find something that made parts of him weaken and melt.

Is this lo–

"Yamato-taichou!"

The voice came from a distance as he approached the inn and echoed through the empty street. The pink-haired woman waived and dashed towards him.

"Yamato-taichou!"

"Sakura?" Yamato furrowed his brows, not expecting such a person to be roaming the streets before dawn. "What a surprise."

"I lost track of time," she said, tucking some unruly strands behind her ear. "I'm just coming back from the hospital. We are a little short staffed."

For so long Yamato avoided coming back to Konoha. It didn't occur to him that Sakura, a former member of Team 7–a little girl–was an adult, with a very important job and a life beyond that of a soldier. It was easy to ignore time passing when his own life was so stagnated and, until yesterday, uneventful.

"You must be here for the wedding," her eyes shifted, "everyone is coming back for that,... I guess."

Based on her sullen expression, the girl's life was probably different from what she would have wanted. Her choices hadn't been the smartest ones, and no matter how renowned she became in the last few years, she still pined for the same person. How fitting for her to show up when he had been doing some longing of his own.

"Something like that," Yamato said. "How have you been?"

"I'm good," she said promptly, but then sighed. "Well, so so."

"Is it Sasuke?" It was a basic assumption.

Sakura's face flushed, more apparent now that the sun began to rise. "I don't want to bother you with things like that. You're probably busy."

Not only busy but on a mission he couldn't disclose, especially not to her. Orochimaru got into so many people's business, it was hard to find one ninja of whatever generation that didn't have a grudge against him.

"I'm just tracking someone. Wanna join me?" It was shameless to ask, and Yamato did have a pinch of guilt for wanting her to tag along so he could learn a thing or two from someone with more experience than him in all this relationship thing. She yearned for a person who was never there, and so did he.

"That brings back memories!" She lit up. "Why not?"

"This way," Yamato pointed at the alley that led to the back of the inn. "So, Sasuke, uh?"

"Yeah..."

"He isn't coming to the wedding, is he?"

"I don't know," she gazed down, "but he probably shouldn't. He is not very liked, and considering some of the guests... he wouldn't want to ruin this for Naruto."

Much like Yamato, Sasuke's visits were rare. But, while Yamato was still accepted, in spite of some seeing his face as the clones that attacked them during the war, Sasuke remained a criminal. It would be a long time before Konoha and other villages moved past it. If he were to be honest, he wasn't fond of him either and had, repeatedly, disagreed with Kakashi's decision to let him go.